Hall of Fame Induction Weekend - Sunday, 27 July 2025 - Utica to Cooperstown to Chaumont

It was our intention to get up and out earlier this morning, but we had a bit of a delay in getting organized and out. Breakfast and then packing the car and then back to Cooperstown. 

It was a cloudy drive with a hint of rain in the air. We got to the Blue Trolley lot, which had really filled up and we were lucky to get a parking place. We made sure we had umbrellas with us. I had purchased a new plastic backpack for the trip because we needed to be able to keep phone, wallet, and tickets dry. It also needed to be big enough to put our heavy duty ponchos in because umbrellas were not allowed at the induction ceremony. 

The trolley had a stop in the village as well as the induction site and we opted to get off in Cooperstown rather than stand in line for 2 hours at the Clarke Sports Center.  The trolley driver cautioned us to be one of the first in line to get the return trolley after the induction because it would be a 45 minute wait for her to return. 

It was a good call because the threat of a thunder storm pushed the ceremony from 1:30 to 2:30. It was drizzling just a bit as I found a bench right across from the museum. I had my Kindle so I read for a while. Earle walked around a bit, but we were content to wait for a while. We knew that we could get in to our seats starting at 1:00 so about 12:30 we went to get on the trolley. It was quite a long line waiting to get in to the seats when we arrived. And it started to rain just about the time we got to the end of the line - about 1/4 of a mile from the drop off area. 

 

 

Got to the Hall of Fame member seats about 1:30. It was nice that there was complimentary water for everyone in that area. Pre-ceremony entertainment on the jumbo-tron kept us entertained until 2:30. 

Although we had seats for the ceremony, which was nice that we didn't have to cart chairs and sit further back, the views were at times blocked by the very tall guys sitting in front of us. It was also sunny and seeing exactly what I was photographing was a bit challenging

Jane Forbes Clark is the chairman of the Board of the HOF and handles all the introductions and presentations for the ceremony. 

 I tried to get photos of all the players who had died in the last year, but only managed one as the tall guys kept moving. 

The first inductee was Billy Wagner, the reliever for the Atlanta Braves was the first speech.   

Next up was the tribute to our Bucco's Dave Parker. His son, Dave, Jr. accepted the honor for his father. The speech was beautifully done and quite poignant. The poem he read at the end brought tears to my eyes, much to the bewilderment of the Ishiro woman sitting next to me. 

 

Here I am, 39.
About damn time.
I know I had to wait a little,
but that's what you do with fine aged wine.
I'm a Pirate for life.
Wouldn't have it no other way.
That was my family,
even though I didn't go on Parade Day.
I love y'all, the Bucs own my heart 

The next inductee was Dick Allen from the Phillies. His wife did a remarkable job honoring her late husband. 

The next honoree was CC Sabathia. I was amazed that there weren't a multitude of Yankee fans to celebrate his election.  His speech was a bit funny and showed a great personality with a few digs at Ishiro. 

Because we knew there were so many Suzuki fans in attendance and in order to make sure we got the first trolley back, we left before his induction. We could listen to the presentation and his speech while waiting at the clearly marked trolley stop. 

We were among the first there and knew that nothing would be coming until after the ceremony ended. HOWEVER, there was the most incredible misinformation rampant and no one seemed to know what was happening after waiting about a half hour for the Blue Trolley to appear. I asked a security guard and he said that it would be "right along." WRONG, after another 15 minutes we were told that we had to take one of the shuttle busses into the village and pick up the trolley back to the parking lot from there. Needless to say, people were quite angry and rightfully so. 

We finally got on the road a little before 7 with an ETA of 9:45 to Chaumont. Good friends understood that dinner plans went awry and we would be LATE in arriving. We were originally going to stop for a bite to eat, but decided that Combos, were dinner enough.  

We stayed up and chatted with a glass of wine and some snacks that more than made up for our delayed arrival. Good friends also give up their air-conditioned bedroom for their guests. Just an act of pure kindness with the heat that has settled over the whole east coast.